Men's Tennis Begins SEC Play on the Road at No. 6 Florida and No. 23 South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's tennis team will begin its Southeastern Conference season against No. 6 Florida on Friday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. CT in Gainesville, Fla. The Crimson Tide hold steady with a 9-3 mark heading into this weekend, while the Gators have an 11-2 record.

The Tide continues its weekend by facing No. 23 South Carolina on Sunday. The Gamecock have a 7-3 record going into Sunday's competition. The team will travel to Columbia, S.C., with the match beginning at 12 p.m. CT.

Series History

Florida leads the all-time series, 40-17, the last time the Crimson Tide defeated the Gators was in 2008.
The Tide is 23-19 all-time against South Carolina, with its most recent victory coming last season.

Team Info

Senior Zhe Zhou leads the team in singles with a 9-1 dual match record, while senior Edson Ortiz and junior Riccardo Roberto have also had standout performances, ranking No. 80 and No. 125 respectively in singles competition. Juniors Patrick Kaukovalta and Jeremy Gschwendtner each have a 9-2 and 8-2 singles record respectively.
The team is coming off of a 2-1 performance in last weekend's Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala. The Tide began the tournament with wins over then-No. 21 Texas Tech and then-No. 46 Arizona, before falling, 4-3, to then-No. 20 Ole Miss in the championship.

Opponent Info

Florida is led by Sam Riffice who is currently the No. 4 singles player in the country. The Gators have five others ranked in singles in No. 18 Oliver Crawford, No. 21 Duarte Vale, No. 84 Andy Andrade, No. 90 Blaise Bicknell and No. 108 Lukas Greif. In doubles, Crawford and Riffice are No. 14, while Johannes Ingildsen and Will Grant are No. 33 in the nation.
South Carolina is led by sophomores Daniel Rodrigues and Raphael Lambling, who are ranked No. 36 and No. 38 respectively in singles. Paul Jubb is No. 48, while Connor Thomson is No. 115. Lambling and Rodrigues are No. 37 in doubles, while Jubb and Thomson are No. 38.

Follow Along

Fans can follow along with live stats and stream linked to RollTide.com.

Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaMTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.